Timeline

2017.10.11

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the White House on Wednesday seeking a new “fairer trade” deal among the United States, Canada and Mexico amid growing alarm from business leaders that President Trump is leaning toward jettisoning the North American Free Trade Agreement.washingtonpost.com(See also Unprecedented Actions)

European leaders pushed back sharply Friday against Donald Trump’s decision to strip White House backing from the Iran nuclear deal, saying the move would weaken U.S. credibility, drive a wedge within the Western alliance and hurt global efforts to address dangers from Tehran to North Korea.washingtonpost.com(See also Iran, North Korea, Unprecedented Actions)

2017.10.25

Donald Trump said Wednesday he did not "specifically" order the military mission in Niger this month that left four American soldiers dead.nbcnews.com(See also Unpresidential Behavior)

Donald Trump’s sweeping plan to restore American primacy by replacing “unfair” multilateral trade agreements with a series of bilateral deals is meeting a grim reality: foreign trading partners aren’t taking the bait.buzzfeed.com(See also China)

2017.11.15

The Trump administration plans to allow hunters to bring trophies of elephants they killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014.abcnews.go.com(See also Environment)

2017.12.04

Donald Trump and his senior aides are preparing to announce that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israelpolitico.com(See also Israel, Jared Kushner)

Defying every major ally besides Israel, Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as its capital, breaking a longstanding international consensus to refrain from doing this until Israel brokers a peace agreement with the Palestinians.buzzfeed.com(See also Israel, Unprecedented Actions)

An award-winning U.S. diplomat who was seen as a rising star at the State Department has issued a scathing resignation letter, accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the Donald Trump administration of undercutting the State Department and damaging America’s influence in the world.foreignpolicy.com(See also Rex Tillerson, Department of State)

2017.12.11

Despite the deaths of as many as half a million people in the Syrian civil war, the Trump Administration is now prepared to accept President Bashar al-Assad’s continued rule until Syria’s next scheduled Presidential election, in 2021, reversingrepeated U.S. statements that Assad must step down as part of a peace process.newyorker.com(See also Russia, Syria, Reversals, Rex Tillerson, Iran)

2017.12.21

The United Nations general assembly has delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump, voting by a huge majority to reject his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.theguardian.com(See also Israel)

2018.01.11

Donald Trump stood with the Norwegian Prime Minister and announced that the U.S-made F-52s fighter aircraft was delivered to Norway, but the “F-52” is a fictional jet only available to fly if you’re a gamer at the controls of “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfarewashingtonpost.com(See also False Statements, Russia)

2018.01.12

Donald Trump has cancelled a visit to Britain next month to open the new US embassy in London, amid fears of mass protests, despite his inaccurate tweets that claim other reasons.theguardian.com(See also False Statements)

One year into Donald Trump's presidency, the image of U.S. leadership is weaker worldwide than it was under his two predecessors, as median approval across 134 countries and areas stands at a new low of 30%.news.gallup.com(See also Trump Effect)

2018.02.01

Four years after the United States pledged to help the world fight infectious-disease epidemics such as Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dramatically downsizing its epidemic prevention activities, reducing it's budget by 80% in 39 out of 49 countries because money is running out.washingtonpost.com(See also Reversals, Assaults on Government)

2018.02.27

Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter.washingtonpost.com(See also Jared Kushner, Nepotism, Corruption, China, Israel, Mexico)

Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, the current and former officials said.

2018.03.02

Jared Kushner's firm made a direct pitch to Qatar’s minister of finance in April 2017 in an attempt to secure investment for his signature 666 Fifth Avenue property in NYC, and after being rebuffed, Kushner provided critical support to a Middle Eastern diplomatic row that culminated in a blockade of Qatar.theintercept.com(See also Jared Kushner, Conflicts of Interest, Corruption)

2018.03.08

A trade pact originally conceived by the United States to counter China’s growing economic might in Asia now has a new target: Donald Trump’s embrace of protectionism, as a group of 11 nations — including allies like Japan, Canada and Australia — signed a broad trade deal that challenges Mr. Trump’s view of trade as a zero-sum game filled with winners and losers.nytimes.com(See also Economy, Trans-Pacific Partnership)

2018.03.08

Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum but offered relief to some U.S. allies, and opened the door for other countries to "negotiate" for exemptions.washingtonpost.com(See also Economy, Trade, NAFTA)

2018.03.08

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has invited Donald Trump to meet for negotiations over its nuclear program.nytimes.com(See also North Korea)

Analysis

Assessments

In an opinion piece for Politico published on less than a month into the Trump Administration, Jon Fine makes the case that there is no coherent foreign policy doctrine guiding the Administration's actions abroad. He details the confusing and contradictory statements coming from the Administration on Iran, Russia, Israel, China, Japan, and Syria. Fine suggests two possible reasons for the lack of a coherent approach:

In almost any other administration, much of the work of establishing basic foreign policy views would have been done already—not in the first month in office, but long before that, through working groups of policy experts convened by the campaign. The Trump campaign didn’t bother with that, either because they didn’t think it would help them win (which is probably true) or because they assumed that in the unlikely event of a victory they would quickly catch up (which was false).

Fine concludes:

The world will not wait until we get our act together. Left to their own guesswork, adversaries and allies can easily miscalculate the strength of our support or opposition. And other nations—friends like Germany, but also competitors like China—will move to fill any vacuum left by the confusion over America’s basic approach.